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Arsenal play their second match in Australia within three days on Saturday, hoping their game against Western Sydney Wanderers (8.00pm AEST kick-off) will prove as successful as their pre-season opener.

The Gunners have remained in the city of the famous Opera House and Harbour Bridge following Thursday’s 2-0 victory over Sydney FC which will be remembered for a debut goal by their new £47million striker Alexandre Lacazette.

The Frenchman, recently signed from Lyon, did not start the match but found the net only 15 minutes after his introduction three-quarters of the way through the game when he was among all 10 outfield substitutions made at the same time by manager Arsene Wenger.

Per Mertesacker, who is beginning his last season as a player before retiring to take charge of the Arsenal academy next year, was in the starting XI and scored the opening goal in only the fourth minute with a hooked overhead kick from a Mesut Ozil corner. The scoreline could have been more emphatic but Danny Welbeck had a penalty saved.

The likelihood is that those who turn up on Saturday at the ANZ Stadium – there was a crowd of 80,000 on Thursday – will get to see much more of Lacazette and the other players who got only 20 minutes or so in the first game, which means probable starts for the likes of Alex Iwobi, Olivier Giroud, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Granit Xhaka, Nacho Monreal and Mohamed Elneny.

Theo Walcott

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As well as Lacazette, Arsenal’s other summer new signing so far, left-back Sead Kolasinac, got his first taste of action against Sydney FC, although there looks sure to be further arrivals and departures among the playing staff over the coming weeks.

After leaving Australia, the FA Cup holders head to China where they will face Bayern Munich and Chelsea on Wednesday and Saturday respectively before heading home for the Emirates Cup, which they host, and a second pre-season meeting with the Premier League champions in the Community Shield.

Western Sydney Wanderers, coached by former Crystal Palace defender Tony Popovic, finished sixth in last season’s A-League having won that competition in 2012-13 and the following year’s Asian Champions League.

They have just confirmed the signing of former Aston Villa midfielder Chris Herd, who recently left Gillingham, while also in their squad is Spanish striker Oriol Riera who had a short spell at Wigan Athletic three years ago.

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Arsenal play their second match in Australia within three days on Saturday, hoping their game against Western Sydney Wanderers (8.00pm AEST kick-off) will prove as successful as their pre-season opener.